The technology we create, peddle and service in today's Brave New World presents once unthinkable possibilities, both for better and for worse. In order to get the jump on the downside risks, sneak a peek at Kord Davis and Doug Patterson's new book Ethics of Big Data: Balancing Risk and Innovation. The O'Reilly published tome provides a framework for productive discussion and thinking about ethics and Big Data in business environments. With the increasing size and scope of information that Big Data technologies can provide business, maintaining an ethical practice benefits from a common framework of understanding and vocabulary for discussing questions about coherent and consistent practices. The approach involves developing a set of terms and concepts, considering ethical principles useful in meaningful business discussions, and then exploring and comparing several overall views on data handling to help inform the development of an ethics-based data strategy. The focus is to enhance effective decision-making in business rather than legislate what ought to be done with data.
